Tips for Tuesday - Books: Emma's Postcard Album, Movies: Lock and Load & Misc. Roll Ranger

We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Books: Emma's Postcard Album

Today we are talking about Emma's Postcard Album by Faith Mitchell. This book is an examination of a collection of postcards received by Emma Crawford, a young black woman living in Pennsylvania in the early part of the twentieth century and working as a domestic servant. It shows how Emma's life and the lives of her family were reflective of their time. 

Don't be fooled by the title. This book is not a light read nor is it just a fun look at a bunch of historic postcards. Yet, it is an interesting read especially if you are interested in history, especially Black history. The book is mainly a look at Black life in the early part of the twentieth century. It is particularly about how they were oppressed and held back by racist whites and yet, some were able to overcome this and succeed against all odds.

Despite the title, the postcards don't really seem to relate that much to the subject matter of the book. With a few exceptions, most of the pictures on the cards don't seem that relevant to the matter at hand. Nor do the messages on them seem that relevant as they are mostly either normal trivial postcard messages or they are illegible.  Accordingly, this book is definitely not what you would expect, and if you read it be prepared to delve into much heavier subject matter than you would think you are going to get based on the title.

Movies: Lock and Load

Today we are talking about Lock and Load. This is a movie about a couple of security guards who are on a mission to rescue their friend, an undercover agent, and subsequently, they become involved in an operation to take down an international arms dealer. The plot of the movie is extremely thin and it can be quite confusing at times. Plus, it is often hard to understand the actor's thick Irish accents, and the close captioning is not always the best. However, there are plenty of action sequences. Accordingly, if you don't care too much about plot and character development, but you like a movie full of violent action sequences like shootouts and hand-to-hand combat that include plenty of gore, you will probably enjoy this film.

Lock and Load is available digitally for rental or purchase now.

Misc.: Roll Ranger

Today we are recommending Roll Ranger. This is a product that you probably didn't even know existed but you absolutely need particularly in this gift-giving season. It quickly and easily finds the end of a roll of tape for you. It works really well and is extremely easy to use, just hold it up to the tape, and it will find the end for you. Once you get one, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

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